Battlefield 3 has "years' worth of unlocks"

Battlefield 3 should keep you going for a while - the upcoming shooter has years' worth of unlocks, developer DICE has claimed.

It's the "deepest" shooter in the developer's history, and has ten times the number of unlocks than Battlefield: Bad Company 2 had.

These are spread over weapons, weapons attachments, gadgets and a "huge" unlock tree for vehicles.

"There should always be something left to achieve in Battlefield 3," persistence designers Valerian Noghin and Fredrik Thylander said on the Battlefield blog.

There are also medals, ribbons and service stars, which display your skill, commitment and teamplay prowess, to gather.

"You will be rewarded handsomely in Battlefield 3 for exemplary skill, such as capturing X amount of bases in one round," the designers said.

"Excellent teamplayers who keep the team's vehicles in mint condition and revive fallen comrades will not go unnoticed either. These type of skill-driven rewards are typically handed out in the form of ribbons, and good players can often get more than one ribbon in a single round."

The Battlefield blog details the way the upgrades and unlocks work in the sure to be a hit shooter, and reveals the Service Stars feature, designed to challenge the hardcore.

"The ultimate bragging right would be for a player to be awarded the rank of Colonel with 100 Service Stars attached, and to have 100 stars in all weapons, kits, and vehicles. Getting there will be a massive task - consider that a challenge! :)"